Cincinnati, Ohio Adopts “Connected Communities” Zoning Reform to Increase Housing Production
If you joined us in Cincinnati for CNU32 in May, you most likely heard that the annual Congress coincided with some very significant land use legislation being considered by the host city.
CNU32 began with Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval’s Welcome Address followed by a lively conversation with Peter Calthorpe about the future of cities and Cincinnati’s work to design land use and development policy that works for our unique challenges and possibilities.
Branded as Connected Communities, this legislation proposed major changes to the City’s 20-year-old zoning code related to middle housing, parking, density, height, and affordability.
CNU’s presence that week was timely because on Friday, May 17, 2024, Cincinnati’s City Planning Commission recommended approval of the Connected Communities legislation. On Wednesday, June 5, Cincinnati City Council voted 6-3 to officially adopt Connected Communities. The new legislation went into effect on Monday, July 1, 2024.
Led by Mayor Aftab Pureval and Councilmembers Reggie Harris and Jeff Cramerding, the work to develop the Connected Communities legislation was two years in the making. However, the path to Connected Communities stretches back over a decade to Cincinnati’s comprehensive plan, Plan Cincinnati, adopted in 2012.
The Road to Connected Communities
Plan Cincinnati focused on revitalizing Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods, which are anchored by walkable, mixed-use neighborhood centers surrounded by a blend of housing options including single-family, middle housing, multi-family, and rowhouses. Those who participated in the guided tours at CNU32 saw some of those neighborhoods firsthand. The Plan introduced the notion of compact walkable areas that are 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile from neighborhood centers, which formed the basis of Connected Communities a decade later.
Fast forward to 2020: the City’s first population growth in over 70 years paired with a decrease in housing supply created an imbalance causing fast-increasing housing costs.
Also in 2020, Hamilton County voters approved Issue 7, allowing a sales tax levy of 0.8% to improve bus service, including expanded 24-7 service hours along major routes and investment in two new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines.
To harness this new opportunity, the City collaborated with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to convene national experts for a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) on Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The panel recommended maximizing the new investment in transit by changing zoning regulations around new transit lines, particularly related to height, density, parking, and building placement.
In 2022, after newly elected Mayor Pureval and City Council directed the City Administration to review the City’s zoning policies to remove barriers to new, high-quality housing, the process began in earnest.
The Engagement and Policy Development Process
Beginning in 2022, proposed policies evolved in four stages:
1. Identify Problems (2022-2023)
In 2022, Councilmember Harris sponsored the first Housing Summit, a day-long event that featured panel discussions led by local housing professionals. Post-Housing Summit, City Staff researched national best practices and engaged with market rate and affordable housing developers, design professionals, transportation experts, business district professionals, and housing funders. The research found that housing prices were rising rapidly, housing construction was lagging, and the zoning code played a role in capping the supply.
Figure 1 Housing supply compared with rental rates for select cities, 2017 - 2023
2. Inform Strategy (2023)
Building off the initial feedback and research, the City held a series of public engagement sessions to educate, listen, and develop policy. Using creative strategies including small group discussions and an interactive game called “Sim Cincy” participants learned key planning principles leading to more inclusive and accessible conversations about zoning. Staff spent several months analyzing and distilling findings from these public engagement events. The results showed that, in general, the public was supportive of changes, but not citywide.
Figure 2 Sim Cincy Public Engagement Activity, City of Cincinnati
3. Policy Development (2023)
Building on engagement results, elected officials and City Staff collaborated to develop the draft policy using three guiding questions:
· What does the research say?
· What are other cities doing?
· What do Cincinnatians think?
Further vetting with local professionals and other City agencies followed and confirmed that the proposed policies could enable the desired changes.
4. Refine and Inform (2024)
Mayor Pureval announced the Connected Communities policies at a press conference in January. To help explain the proposed policies, an in-depth website featured ArcGIS StoryMaps content. The StoryMaps walked through the policies and included interactive maps, images, graphics, data, and characters to help illustrate complex zoning topics. Members of the public could educate themselves about the draft policies at their own pace and provide feedback via surveys.
Figure 3 Elements from the Connected Communities StoryMap
Figure 4 Public Engagement During 2024 Housing Summit, City of Cincinnati
Additional opportunities to engage with the material included in-person and virtual presentations and discussions, pop-up events at local coffee shops, and informational exchanges from leaders of Community Councils, Community Development Corporations, and underrepresented groups. The highlight of 2024 was the Housing Growth and Affordability Summit, a free public event featuring panel discussions and presentations about the proposed policy changes. Live polling and Q&A were features of each session. More about the engagement process is shown in this engagement report.
The Connected Communities Strategy
The crux of the policy features tools for relaxing zoning regulations for middle housing and reducing density, height, and parking regulations in target geographies. These focus areas include Neighborhood Business Districts (NBDs) and ¼ mile surrounding them, properties fronting Major Corridors, plus the ½ mile area around them. Select policy changes were recommended Citywide.
Figure 5 Target Geographies Map
The new zoning designations are classified as:
Neighborhood Business District “B.” - areas located within the established NBDs.
· Two-, three-, and four-family buildings permitted
· Density regulations do not apply but no changes to setback or height requirements.
· No off-street parking is required for new residential buildings with 10 or fewer units; for buildings with more than 10 units, one-half space per additional unit is required.
· No off-street parking required for New Commercial/Mixed-Use Buildings if the building has 5,000 square feet or less of commercial space; for more than 5,000 square feet of commercial space, parking requirements are reduced by one-half.
Middle Housing “MH.”- areas located within a 1/4 mile around NBDs.
· Two-, three-, and four-family buildings permitted
· No off-street parking is required for new residential buildings with 10 or fewer units; for more than 10 units, one-half space per additional unit is required.
· No off-street parking required for New Commercial/Mixed-Use Buildings if the building has 5,000 square feet or less of commercial space; for more than 5,000 square feet of commercial space, parking requirements are reduced by one-half.
Transportation Corridor “T.” areas near the Major Transportation Corridors, including a 1/2 mile around the new BRT lines and parcels along the block face of other 24-hour transit corridors.
· Two-, three-, and four-family buildings permitted
· Density regulations do not apply and buildings can exceed the maximum height by 1-story, except in Single Family zones; no changes to setback.
· No minimum parking requirements for any building regardless of use.
Additional policy highlights include:
· Affordable Development
Projects receiving Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) projects are eligible for bonuses eliminating density requirements and parking minimums and can exceed the maximum height by 1-story.
· Rowhomes
Identified by both the public and professionals as a popular form of housing and an affordable pathway to homeownership, rowhomes will now be permitted in the densest type of single-family zones and residential mixed zones, with reduced lot areas.
· Human Scale Development and Process Improvements
New regulations focus on the importance of the look and feel of a community such as landscaping, architectural design, electric vehicle charging, and location of bus shelters. Other process improvements were incorporated related to simplifying Outdoor Dining, streamlining Historic District review, and other regulations.
After Connected Communities and Beyond
Figure 6 Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval Signs Connected Communities Legislation
The Policy went into effect on July 1, 2024. Now the question is: will the policy yield results? The City will be tracking housing production using metrics of new units created both inside and outside of the Connected Communities target areas, the number of Public Service Requests, and the change in the number of zoning hearings per neighborhood. The data will be visible in real-time, allowing for future adjustments.
The Connected Communities project was an incredible opportunity and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for staff of the City of Cincinnati. Most notably, the work was completed entirely in-house with no dedicated budget and involved significant cross-departmental collaboration. The creativity, dedication, and passion of the staff, paired with a love of this City, resulted in a policy strategically designed for Cincinnati.
On your return visit to Cincinnati, our hope is that you will find that the natural historic form of our City – a mix of housing types and levels of affordability, surrounding vibrant and walkable neighborhood business districts, connected by reliable public transit – is renewed and thriving.
For more detailed information about Connected Communities, including links to the research, engagement materials, and StoryMap, please visit the City of Cincinnati’s website at https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/connected-communities/.
Author Bio:
Katherine Keough-Jurs, FAICP, is the Director of the Department of City Planning and Engagement for the City of Cincinnati. Ms. Keough-Jurs has worked for the City since September, 2000. She was Project Manager for Plan Cincinnati, the City of Cincinnati’s first comprehensive plan in over 30 years, and winner of the American Planning Association's (APA) 2014 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan, APA Ohio’s 2013 Ohio Planning Award for Comprehensive Planning in a Large Jurisdiction, and the 2013 Frank F. Ferris Award for Planning in Hamilton County, Ohio. She holds a Master of Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati and a BA in Political Science from Miami University.